EL SEGUNDO, CA — When Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi speaks to the media, if he has the time, he’ll provide chapter and verse about his actions, his plans, and just about anything else under the sun related to the Kings, the National Hockey League, and sometimes, non-hockey-related topics.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Even before the Los Angeles Kings lost defenseman Slava Voynov to his indefinite suspension, resulting from him being charged with domestic violence against his wife, it was no secret that they were looking for help on their blue line to fill the void left by big, physical, stay-at-home defenseman Willie Mitchell, who they could not fit under the salary cap last summer.

With both players out of their lineup, the Kings struggled, especially in their own end. That continued until their current eight-game winning streak, prompting President/General Manager Dean Lombardi to acquire defenseman Andrej Sekera from the Carolina Hurricanes on February 25, in exchange for defenseman prospect Roland McKeown and a conditional first round pick.

As first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the conditions for the first round pick are: if the Kings make the playoffs, the pick will be in the 2015 National Hockey League Draft. If not, the pick will be in the 2016 draft.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On February 25, the Los Angeles Kings signed left wing Kyle Clifford to a five-year contract extension.

As reported at virtually the same time by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Bob McKenzie of TSN, the deal has a salary cap hit of $1.6 million per season.

Clifford spoke to the media after practice shortly after the deal was announced.

“It’s a good feeling, obviously,” he said. “You can get it out of the way, and just focus on hockey. But it doesn’t guarantee anything. You still have to come to the rink every day, put your work in, and continue to progress to win games.”

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Returning to practice ice after the National Hockey League All-Star break usually isn’t all that eventful for a team, but that was not the case for Los Angeles Kings, who found out that one of their own, veteran center Mike Richards, had been placed on waivers earlier in the day on January 26.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — As much as Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi talks when the media can get ahold of him for an interview, we often have to go through channels to reach him and sometimes, it can take weeks to finally get a chance to speak with him.

But on this day, Lombardi came downstairs from his offices at the Kings’ practice facility, the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California, and asked the local media watching the team practice…

“Does anyone need to talk to me?”

Of course, he knew that, after having placed veteran center Mike Richards on waivers earlier in the day, the answer would be a resounding “yes.”

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